Word-formation processes as a source of development of lexical and word-formation homonymy of the Ukrainian language

Abstract

Background. The study of word-formation phenomena related to homonymy of different linguistic units is one of the most topical issues of modern linguistics. Despite the continuing attention of scholars to the problems of homonymy, many aspects of this linguistic phenomenon still remain unresolved. In particular, the emergence of lexical homonyms as a result of derivational processes has been described only in general terms, although word-formation mechanisms are among the most productive internal factors that lead to the emergence of homonymous lexical items. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to outline one aspect of the creation of potential lexical homonyms based on the word-formation models of deminitive suffixes. Particularly noteworthy are the cases of nouns with a figurative component of meaning, in which the affixes express the word-formation meaning of “similarity” and coincide in form with the suffixes of subjective evaluation, such as shrunken and caressing.

Methods. The proposed study was carried out by means of the method of linguistic observation using the techniques of continuous sampling of lexical material from dictionary sources; component analysis of definitions of lexical units, structural and cognitive onomasiological methods. The method of comparison has revealed different lexicographic anchoring of the studied units: as sememes in the structure of polysemants or as homolexemes.

Results. In the Ukrainian language, derived nouns with figurative content are often derived from substantive bases using the word-formation models of the deminitive formants -ик-, -к, -ок-, etc. The formation of associative and figurative representations of the nomination object is based on universal cognitive metaphorical models. Desemanticized deminitive suffixes express the word-formation meaning of “similarity”. Figurative noun derivatives formed on the model of deminitive suffixes from the same stem denote different, unrelated elements of reality, and therefore belong to separate lexical and semantic groups of words and to distinct word-formation types. Therefore, the recording of these units in lexicographical works ‒ as part of polysemy or as homonymous words ‒ is a matter of debate. This problem is also complicated by the different views of scholars on the ways in which such derivatives appear: their emergence as a result of semantic divergence or as a result of morphological word formation.

Discussion and conclusions. The studied figurative derivatives reflect a special case of the formation of word-formation homonyms, which are also homolexemes or can potentially become them. The word-formation character of the phenomenon of homonymy is primarily associated with the use of homosuffixes, which in combination with the motivational basis, express different, semantically unrelated derivational meanings. The appearance of lexical items that are identical in phonemic and morphemic composition reflects the involvement of the same noun-motivators in the processes of word formation. Thus, the derivational processes of the described type are an important source of lexical and word-formation homonymy formation.

The practice of fixing figurative derivatives in lexicographical works, including as homographs, requires the development of certain theoretical criteria for the semantic content of dictionary explanations, taking into account the content of figurative motivational features.

Information about the author:

Hutsuliak Tetiana Yevhenivna – Doctor of Philology, Associate Professor, Professor of the Department of Modern Ukrainian Language at Yurii Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University

E-mail: t.gutsuliak@chnu.edu.ua